03/07/1989
Monday, July 3rd
Dear diary, Africa is very hot!
We decided to visit Uagadou School of Magic first, which is located in the Mountains of the Moon in Uganda. To enter, we had to pass through a wide area covered entirely in fog, so much so that it seemed like we were floating, and we had to hold hands to avoid getting lost.
The school is huge, Dad says it's even bigger than Hogwarts. We had to cut the visit a bit short because they were doing renovations, but what caught my attention the most were their alchemy classrooms. I think I'm starting to see the appeal of this subject for when I take it on my tenth birthday...
We had to almost drag Dad away because he wanted to stay for the alchemy model class, but we had already booked a trip to a muggle safari.
The safari was good, we saw elephants and giraffes, also some hippos and rhinos, but the best part was when we got off to have lunch in a small village along the way, and when we returned, our vehicle had been invaded by lionesses! The guide just laughed and took us back to the village; in the end, we stayed there for about three hours until the lionesses got bored and left our vehicle alone.
Celty made friends with a boomslang that lived on the outskirts of the village; unfortunately, we didn't see any more snakes for the rest of the trip.
Then we went to the magical creature reserve near the Congo and saw Tebos, a kind of ash-colored wild boar, a Sphinx, to which we had to answer a riddle to continue our tour (In darkness I hide, but in light I vanish. I am a symbol of hope, but in shadows I perish. What am I?), it was great but a bit intimidating, it was funny because only after a few seconds all of us, except My Dragon, said the correct answer, the Sphinx still stepped aside, but I couldn't help the redheads making fun of My Draco.
We were able to pick up some dried figs and other potion ingredients as we walked through the reserve (Dad was very happy, and the redheads took turns carrying Sev's large basket), on the way we came across a couple of Yumbos arguing with some reserve workers and Dad told us it was better to stay away from there because Yumbos, who are a kind of house-elf, are very temperamental.
At one point, Julius separated from the group, and when we found him, I saw him hiding a Runespoor egg in his pants pocket, luckily Dad also noticed and told him to put it back where he found it. But my little brother said the mother had given him the egg when he introduced himself as a Parselmouth.
Dad still made us go see the nest, and I asked the snake if what Julius said was true. Talking to a Runespoor is very strange; each head says what it wants and it's a bit confusing, but two of them said we could keep the egg while one said we should return it. Since the middle head said it was okay, Dad decided to accept that Julius would have a Runespoor as a familiar.
There was a Phoenix nest at the top of a mountain, but it was a restricted area so we couldn't see it. They had placed several Streelers on the path, so it was dangerous to walk on the poisonous substance these snails secrete.
In the rest of the place, there were several Fwoopers flying around and Diricawls appearing and disappearing everywhere. In another restricted area, there was a pair of Nundus that had just had cubs, and a female Erumpent had gotten a little out of control in the east area.
It was a paradise, but we had to leave earlier than I would have liked. Africa is very big, and despite everything, we couldn't see everything...
At least we were able to enter some Egyptian tombs and see how curse breakers work. But I don't think it's a career I would like to pursue, Forge and Gred told us that their older brother, Bill, wanted to work in that, well, to each his own.
The muggle museums were also great, but as I was saying, my diary, we couldn't see everything, but it was still fun.
Next stop: India! I'm going to be able to celebrate my birthday there! I'm super excited, but also very nervous. Dad said he has a surprise for me and it seems like everyone knows what it is except me (when did they have time to talk behind my back!?) so I look forward to it eagerly.
See you later,
Bye!